Regulations last checked for updates: Jun 02, 2024

Title 25 - Indians last revised: Mar 22, 2024
§ 141.16 - Price marking.

The price of each article offered for sale shall be marked on the article, its containers or in any other manner that is plain and visible to the customer and that affords the customer a reasonable opportunity to learn the price of the article prior to purchase.

§ 141.17 - Health and sanitation requirements.

(a) Each licensee shall keep both the premises and the place of business in a clean and sanitary condition at all times and shall avoid exposure of foodstuffs to contamination. No licensee may offer for sale any goods that are banned for health or sanitation reasons from retail sale by any Federal agency or by the tribe or, where not in conflict with the tribal regulations, by the State or by any State agency. No licensee may knowingly offer for sale any food that is contaminated.

(b) All weights and measure shall conform to standards set by the National Bureau of Standards and to standards, if any, set by the tribe and, if not in conflict with tribal regulations, to the standards set by the State.

(c) If training in foodhandling is available from the Indian Health Service, each person working in a reservation business shall complete the foodhandler training offered by the Indian Health Service before handling any food sold by a reservation business.

(d) Any person whom the Service Unit Director of the Indian Health Service determines is infected with or is a carrier of any communicable disease in a stage likely to be communicable to persons exposed as a result of the infected employee's normal duties as a foodhandler may not be employed by a reservation business.

(e) Each business shall comply with all Federal health regulations and with all tribal health regulations that are consistent with Federal regulations. Each business shall comply with State health regulations that are consistent with tribal and Federal health regulations.

(f) Except as otherwise provided herein, nothing in this section may be construed as a grant of enforcement powers to any agency of a State or its subdivisions.

(g) It is the duty of the health officers of the Indian Health Service to make periodic inspections, recommend improvements, and report thereon to the Commissioner.

§ 141.18 - Availability of employee authorized to transact business.

Each licensee shall provide during normal business hours an employee authorized in writing to engage in all business transactions that the licensee normally offers to customers.

§ 141.19 - Check cashing.

(a) A reservation business may give a fully negotiable check in addition to U.S. currency when cashing a draft, check or money order. A reservation business may not give scrip, credit or other substitute for U.S. currency when cashing a draft, check or money order.

(b) A reservation business owner or employee may advise a customer cashing checks, money orders or drafts of the amount due on the customer's credit accounts, pawn accounts or any other obligation the customer owes to the business, but in no event may the owner or employee withhold the proceeds of the check, money order or draft from the customer on the basis of existing credit obligations.

[40 FR 39837, Aug. 29, 1975, as amended at 41 FR 3288, Jan. 22, 1976. Redesignated at 47 FR 13327, Mar. 30, 1982]
§ 141.20 - Payment for purchase of Indian goods or services.

(a) A reservation business shall pay for the purchase of Indian goods or services with cash or a fully negotiable check. A reservation business may not pay for Indian goods or services with trade slips or future credit. In any transaction involving the purchase of Indian goods on the Navajo Reservation, the reservation business shall furnish a bill of sale indicating the name of the seller, a description of the goods, the amount paid for the goods, the date of sale, and the signature of both parties and shall retain a copy of the bill of sales in its business records.

(b) A reservation business owner or employee may advise a customer selling Indian goods or services of the amount due on the customer's credit accounts, pawn accounts or any other obligation the customer owes to the business, but in no event may the owner or employee withhold the proceeds of the sale from the customer on the basis of existing credit obligations.

§ 141.21 - Trade confined to premises.

The licensee shall confine all trade on the reservation to the premises specified in the license, except, where permitted under § 141.14, the buying and selling of livestock and livestock products.

§ 141.22 - Subleasing prohibited.

No licensee may lease, sublet, rent, or sell any building that the licensee occupies for any purpose to any person without the approval of the Commissioner and the consent of the tribe.

§ 141.23 - Posted statement of ownership.

The licensee of a reservation business shall display in a prominent place a notice that is legible to customers stating the form of the business entity, the names and addresses of all other reservation businesses owned in whole or in part by the business entity, and if the licensee is not a corporation, the names and addresses of the owner or owners of the business. If the licensee is a corporation the notice shall list the names and addresses of the members of the Board of Directors.

§ 141.24 - Attendance at semi-annual meetings.

Upon the request of a tribal official designated by the governing body, each licensee shall attend a semi-annual public meeting of a tribal governing body to respond to customer inquiries.

§ 141.25 - Withholding of mail prohibited.

No owner or employee of a reservation business may open, withhold, or otherwise delay the delivery of mail.

§ 141.26 - Trade in antiquities prohibited.

No licensee may knowingly buy, sell, rent or lease any artifact created before 1930 that was removed from an historic ruin or monument.

§ 141.27 - Trade in imitation Indian crafts prohibited.

No person may introduce or possess for disposition or sale within the exterior boundaries of the Hopi, Navajo or Zuni Reservations any object that is represented to be an Indian handicraft unless the object was produced by an Indian or Indians with the help of only such devices as allow the manual skill of the maker to condition the shape and design of each individual's product.

§ 141.28 - Gambling prohibited.

No licensee may permit any person to gamble by dice, cards, or in any way whatever, including the use of any mechanical device, on the premises of any licensed business.

§ 141.29 - Political contributions restricted.

No reservation business owner who is ineligible to vote in a Navajo tribal election may grant or donate any money or goods to any candidate for election to Navajo tribal office.

§ 141.30 - Retaliation prohibited.

No licensee may refuse service to any customer for the purpose of retaliating against that customer for enforcing or attempting to enforce the regulations of this part.

§ 141.31 - Trade by Indian Affairs employees restricted.

(a) Except as authorized in this section, no person employed by the U.S. Government in Indian Affairs may have any interest in any trade with an Indian or an Indian organization. Employees of the U.S. Government may trade with an Indian or Indian organization for any purpose other than to engage in a profit-making activity under the following conditions:

(1) Where the amount involved is $500 or less a U.S. Government employee may purchase goods or services from an Indian or Indian organization.

(2) Where the amount involved is greater than $500 a U.S. Government employee may, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, purchase goods or services from any Indian or Indian organization.

(b) Lease or sale of home sites or allotments on trust or restricted Indian land to or from Indian employees of the U.S. Government shall be made on sealed bids, unless the Commissioner waives this requirement on the basis of a report showing:

(1) The need for the transaction,

(2) The benefits accruing to both parties, and

(3) That the consideration for the proposed transaction is not less than the appraised value of the land or leasehold interest unless the Indian employee qualifies and is intending a transaction in accordance with § 152.5 (b) and (c) of this chapter or § 162.5(b)(1), (2) and (3) of this chapter.

An affidavit, as follows, shall accompany each proposed land transaction: I,____________________________(Name) ____________________________(Title) swear (or affirm) that I have not exercised any undue influence nor used any special knowledge received by reason of my office in obtaining the (grantor's, purchaser's, vendor's) consent to the instant transaction.

(c) This section does not prohibit any reservation business from contracting with the Federal Government to provide postal services to Indian communities in which Government postal service is unavailable.

(d) Nothing in this section prohibits an Indian employee from receiving benefits by reason of membership in a tribe or corporation or cooperative association organized by and operated for Indians.

(e) U.S. Government employees who violate this section are liable to a penalty of five thousand dollars ($5,000) and shall be removed from office, see 25 U.S.C. 68.

[40 FR 39837, Aug. 29, 1975, as amended at 41 FR 3288, Jan. 22, 1976. Redesignated at 47 FR 13327, Mar. 30, 1982]
authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 25 U.S.C. 2 and 9; and Sec. 701, Pub. L. 114-74, 129 Stat. 599, unless otherwise noted
source: 40 FR 39835, Aug. 29, 1975, unless otherwise noted. Redesignated at 47 FR 13327, Mar. 30, 1982.
cite as: 25 CFR 141.28